Praedicator

Verba

Sunday, November 26, 2017 - 34th or Last Sunday in Ordinary Time - A: The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King

[Ezek 34:11-12, 15-17; 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28; Matt 25:31-46]

I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord God. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleep and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly. As for you, my sheep, says the Lord God, I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats. [Ezekiel]

The title of this Sunday feast, which ends the liturgical year, seems a bit pompous given the images of shepherd and flock. It conjures up the incredible scene of the last judgment rendered by Michelangelo on the wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The concept of royalty is somehow tacked on to a pastoral reality and turned into an emphasis on fear of judgment. There's no question that an element of accountability for the way we live and treat others is present. But unless we see the pastoral challenge, it is easy to dismiss a future judgment because of its uncertain timing.

Chapter 34 of Ezekiel is a ringing denunciation of the leadership of Israel, blaming them for the disaster of the exile. They have failed to properly shepherd the flock entrusted to them. Even the sheep come in for a warning at the end of the passage. The gospel scripture with the scene painted by Michelangelo seems to include both leaders and flock and is a warning to all of us about what is expected of a Christian. One wishes the list would be the standard for our governing leaders, but we cannot stop there. What are we doing for the hungry, thirsty, naked, imprisoned, and homeless, whether domestic or in exile? Whatever we do for them, we do for Christ, for he is represented in them! That is hardly a picture of omnipotence!

In his programmatic document, The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii gaudium), Pope Francis speaks of shepherds having "the smell of the sheep," and the church as a "field hospital for the sick and wounded." The scriptures from Ezekiel and Matthew today certainly bear out his challenge to all of us from Pope to Pew Person. Christ the King is not to be found on a throne but in living persons calling for the mercy with which we have been entrusted from our baptism. If we become, as Pope Francis puts it, "missionaries of mercy," we will have no reason to fear, and we will hear Jesus say, "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers or sisters of mine, you did for me." AMEN